1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support structure for a control pedal of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a vehicle control pedal, such as a brake pedal or a clutch pedal, adapted to be swingingly operated by a foot of a driver, is supported relative to a dash panel by a pedal bracket. Specifically, the bracket is fixed to the dash panel, and an upper end of the control pedal is pivotally supported by the petal bracket through a support shaft extending in a width, i.e., lateral, direction of a vehicle body, so that the control pedal is swingably supported relative to the dash panel. In such a vehicle control pedal, it is desired to employ a mechanism for preventing impact energy during a vehicle collision (frontal collision) from being input to a leg of a driver through the control pedal.
As techniques for coping with the demand, JP 2005-510785A (Patent Publication 1) discloses a control pedal support structure comprising a pedal bracket which swingably supports a vehicle control pedal through a first support shaft extending in a lateral direction of a vehicle body to serve as a swing supporting point of the control pedal, and a swingable lever which is swingably supported by the pedal bracket through a second support shaft extending in the lateral direction and adapted to come into contact with a member of the vehicle body (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle body member”) during a frontal collision so as to be swingingly moved about the second support shaft, whereby the first support shaft is forcibly displaced in a rearward direction of the vehicle body according the swing movement of the swingable lever.
JP 3269372B (Patent Publication 2) discloses another control pedal support structure designed to, during a frontal collision, displace a pivot shaft serving as a swing supporting point of a vehicle control pedal, rearwardly relative to a pedal depressing portion (i.e., pedal pad) formed at a lower end of the control pedal, wherein a biasing force of a spring is used for keeping the pivot shaft at its initial position in an upper end of the control pedal.
EP 0659615A1 (Patent Publication 3) discloses yet another control pedal support structure designed to, during a frontal collision, expandingly deform a pedal bracket holding a support shaft of a vehicle control pedal, in a lateral direction of a vehicle body, so as to allow the control pedal to drop out of the pedal bracket.
In the support structures disclosed in Patent Publications 1 and 2, in a normal (non-collision) condition, the support shaft of the control pedal can be supported by the pedal bracket with a certain level of strength. However, if a large load is applied to the control pedal downwardly, for example, due to an excessive pedal depressing operation by a driver, the support shaft of the control pedal is likely to drop out of the pedal bracket. In the support structure disclosed in Patent Publication 3, the control pedal is likely to be inclined due to a load obliquely applied thereto in a course of the expanding deformation of the pedal bracket during a vehicle collision, and thereby cause difficulty in allowing the control pedal to reliably drop out of the pedal bracket.